Cover of Washington Confidential

Washington Confidential

  • Free to read
  • 8 hours to read
  • 10 chapters
  • Reading level: 8th & 9th grade

"Washington Confidential" by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer is a revealing and controversial exposé written in the early 1950s. This book offers a gritty look at the underbelly of Washington, D.C., exploring issues of corruption, vice, and the peculiarities of life in the nation’s capital. Through their journalistic lens, the authors promise an unfiltered narrative that challenges the sanitized image of Washington as the seat of political power. The opening of "Washington Confidential" sets the stage for this exploration by framing the city as a paradox. Lait and Mortimer share their intent to dissect Washington, revealing it as a place of stark contradictions—architectural beauty alongside moral decay. They describe how Washington's political landscape is intertwined with vice, crime, and an extraordinary excess of government employees who engage in dubious activities. Their tone is acerbic and satirical, giving readers a sense that much of what lies beneath the surface of this capital city is overshadowed by a casual acceptance of vice, hinting at a darker reality far removed from the official narratives of governance and reform.

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  • Washington (D.C.) · Social life and customs
  • Washington (D.C.) · Description and travel

Read the opening

Part One — THE PLACES (Confidential!)

1. DISTRICT OF CONFUSION 1
Washington’s whys and wherefores, guaranteed to mystify,
amaze and amuse.

2. “GORGEOUS” GEORGETOWN 8
No relation to the wrestler, only sometimes he makes
more sense than the rich big domes and fancy queers
who reside in this made-to-order Greenwich Village.

3. NW COULD MEAN NOWHERE 12
North West is the only section of Washington which
counts. On the other hand, what is there in it you won’t
find in Denver, Detroit or Dubuque, except the White
House?

4. NOT-SO-TENDER TENDERLOIN 21
Where the hustlers hustle.

5. HOBOS WITH NO HORIZONS 30
They can’t vote the bums in Washington’s flophouses,
otherwise these skidrows are like your home-town
Bowery, except there are three.

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Contents

  1. Part One — THE PLACES (Confidential!)
  2. Part Two — THE PEOPLE (Confidential!)
  3. Part Three — THE ESCAPE (Confidential!)
  4. Part Four — THE LOWDOWN (Confidential!)
  5. Part Five — THE APPENDIX (Confidential!)
  6. Part One
  7. Part Two: THE PEOPLE (Confidential!)
  8. Part Three
  9. Part Four
  10. Part Five

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About this edition

This free edition of Washington Confidential by Jack Lait & Lee Mortimer comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #63469, released 2020-10-16. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery, Politics, Journalism/Media/Writing.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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